It’s happening….Woe is us?
We’ve tried to push it out of our minds since the first few rounds of rumours began circulating that the next generation Porsche 911 will incorporate some sort of electric drive component, essentially making it a hybrid. Gulp.
Porsche seems to be rather chipper about a prospect that, to the average motoring enthusiast, should be met with dread. During a video in which Porsche’s CEO (Oliver Blume) and CFO (Lutz Meschke) spoke about the company’s 2015 fiscal year, Meschke mused on the automaker’s hybrid and fully electric roadmap. That’s where the declaration was made without flinch.
The next Porsche 911, 8th-generation, is due out somewhere around 2018, possibly as a primer to the release of Porsche’s first fully electric production car, the Mission E. Not sure if they’ll keep the same name as the concept shown at Frankfurt as ‘Mission E’ doesn’t sound very Porsche-like, but there’s been no deviation.
Recently, an updated version of the current 991-generation 911 Carrera was launched with a flat-six engine that has a smaller displacement but is more powerful thanks to the addition of two turbochargers. For the most part, Porsche has managed to keep the 911’s naturally aspirated character more or less intact with the omission of an atmospherical engine.
But the move to a hybrid 911 will be a much more difficult task. And it’s not clear whether this powertrain will be offered in a certain variant or will spread to most of them.
Having said that, Porsche does already have ample experience with hybrid technology, and their 918 Spyder hypercar is a clear example of how electric drive can greatly enhance a car’s agilithy and performance.
During the video, Porsche’s CEO and CFO also spoke about its strong sales in 2015: over 80,000 Macans, and over 32,000 911s.
